Targeting sensory nerves after growth plate injuries may bolster healing

Hopkins Researchers Trace Growth Plate Damage in Children's Bone Injuries to an Invading Nerve Signal

Johns Hopkins researchers found sensory nerves drive bony bar formation after growth plate injury, and a nerve block reduced it by up to 60% in mice.

Targeting sensory nerves after growth plate injuries may bolster healing

In January this year, a team of Johns Hopkins Medicine investigators, led by pathologist Aaron W. James, MD, Ph.D., discovered that sensory neurons in skeletal tissue are constantly sensing their environment and quickly respond to injuries. In new research published in Science Translational Medicine, they describe how this response profoundly affects growth plates, the soft cartilage at the end of bones in children that support normal growth and development, and how they respond to targeted treatment in mice.